‘How Marilyn Took On Hollywood – And Won’

Marilyn at Milton Greene’s studio, where she founded her independent production company in 1955

As the BFI’s month-long Marilyn retrospective opens in London, Helen O’Hara has written an excellent article for the Telegraph about how Marilyn beat the studio system at its own game.

“Marilyn Monroe is remembered as an icon, a sex object, a star. But she wanted to be remembered as an actress, and it was that legacy that she laboured endlessly to secure. In the end, her tragically early death came just as she was beginning to strike out alone and find her feet. But her example helped to break the studios’ power, and ensure that the stars of the ‘60s and ‘70s could take risks in a way she never could. How many blondes does it take to change an unfair system? Maybe just one, if she’s Marilyn.”

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